:: OLW Blog Hop ::

Welcome to the first One Little Word blog hop of 2013! 

Did you come from Janet's place?  You are in the right place! Thank you for viewing my part of the world for a bit! 
Feel free to look around -- but orange colored glasses are required!
A complete list of participating blogs are listed at the bottom of this post. 

A little more than a week ago I shared my 2013 One Little Word, and how it found me, in this post.  My word is present, but it's really more like two words, be present.  This is my second year participating in Ali's class at Big Picture Classes and I am completely hooked.  Last year my life was...interrupted...and although my 2012 word, balance, stayed with me all year (and will always be a part of me), I didn't participate in the class with the prompts as much as I'd hoped. I am excited as I begin again (aren't new beginnings like magic?) and I am hopeful that I will continue to participate in the class and with this blog hop all year!  I hope you play along, too!

I started a flickr group to share photos related to our words.  Wanna join?  Here's a link.  You should totally join.  All the cool kids are doin' it (OK, right now it's just me, but I'm hoping for other cool kids). ;-)

OK.  Now...to the photos -- when I hop to all these blogs, I always want to see the photos!

I didn't really feel right just starting, so I decided that I needed a title page. I resized a photo (that I took with my iPhone) to 7.5 x 10.5, added a banner and Ali's title card in photoshop, and printed it on my home printer (I'm pretty much doing all my printing at home right now, just for the convenience of it!).  I learned that I LOVE big pictures. OK, I admit, I think I already knew that, but now I know it for realz. Then I cut it up, rounded the corners and voila!  I may add some flair or something to it, I haven't decided.  I might just call 'er done.

two page spread for the prompt (names blurred for privacy)

Wow.  This was a difficult prompt. I didn't put numbers or dates on mine because I feel like I'm going to do them all, all the time, I'm an over achiever like that, yo!  BUT, I do like the idea of having a focus each month.  This month I was mostly just trying to survive, and think about my word, and make a conscience effort to listen, to others as well as myself.  That's not going away, the listening thing.  I know that I'm more of a talker than a listener.  :-)  So this is one that I will need to always focus on! To be present, one must be a listener.

process photo

For the main prompt, I used blue and orange StazOn ink to stamp "be present" on the cards (on both white and a light kraft color).  Then I used a fine print, blue sharpie and wrote on each card. The writing is basically the action or intention, I'm not sure what to call it.  For me, these words are the ways I need to "be present", if that makes sense.

I filled the rest of the spots with fun papers from my stash. This month much of it is Amy Tangerine.  I added some alphas, washi, and some other fun.

I printed Ali's title card on vellum, as well as a sample that I got from Shelley Haganman at A Flair for Buttons.  She is doing some custom flair for me related to my word and I borrowed one of the .jpg examples that she sent (with permission), printed it on vellum and put it over some of the Amy Tangerine paper. Both pieces of vellum are stapled with the Tiny Attacher.  I am not sure I am finished.  I might put some of the flair that I get on that top left card, or I might replace it with a self portrait.  I haven't decided yet!

I put a little wood veneer camera on this card (Studio Calico paper), but it wasn't quite right.  Then I added a little brad in the middle and I love it (it might be my favorite card)!

blogpost insert front

Finally I printed out most of this blog post on that same light Kraft card stock (front and back) and added a 6x12 insert.

blogpost insert back

Pretty simple, but I'm happy with the result.

One last thing...I am using the same binder that I used last year.  To separate the years I added a divider.

I used some plain (thick) transparency, painted it and added stickers for the year.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my process.  Please continue hopping!  Next stop...Ruth's place!

Here is the complete list of bloggers participating today -- give 'em some love!

Lee

Cheri

Lisa

Lynn

Nikki

Kathryn

Missus Wookie:

Veronica

Eydie

Karen

Kelly

Melanie

Valerie

Marya

Nupur

Angela

Janet

Dona <----- That's me!

Ruth

Naomi

Pam

Kara

Clare

Margareta

Tricia

Jacqueline

:: layout mission | January ::

Last week I told you about My Pinterest Challenge to myself, this week I'd like to let you in on another one of my goals.  I hope to do at least two layouts a month, not counting Project Life or One Little Word prompts.  For those of you that do two or more a day (or an hour), I know that you are thinking, "Uhh...loser!"  LOL, but I am afraid that I will no longer do layouts because of Project Life, so I had to start with a goal and go from there.  If I surpass it, no problem!  

My layout mission :  In addition to OLW prompts and weekly PL spreads, I challenge myself to complete at least two traditional layouts per month.

Both of these layouts I'm going to share with you today were made almost exclusively with January's Scrapbook Circle kit -- Only You (as you will see there's a bunch of Crate Paper's Fourteen Collection included in this kit!).  I added some washi, some flair from A Flair for Buttons (and one from American Crafts, I think), and of course some alphas.  This first one was a photograph that I took when I woke up one morning.  My phone is always right beside my bed so I grabbed it when I saw felt this:

I kept this one pretty simple (didn't even use my sewing machine or any washi on this one), but I like the way it turned out.  Journaling reads : "On Mother's Day I woke up to this hug and a little voice saying Come Here You".  It's a true story, yo -- she is that awesome!

I raised the "YOU" (Fancy Pants) with foam squares and placed a card from my Seafoam PL kit behind it (actually, I think this is one that I printed out from the digital kit, but didn't use...until now).  I traced around the inside of the card to add a bit of depth.  I used Ashley Horton's sketch for the Sketch It Out Challenge at ClubCK, and the twist for this month is "Outlining" (just another reason to trace around the inside of that card)!  Here's the sketch:

For my second layout, still using Scrapbook Circle's great January kit, I chose a couple of photos from June 2011.  I take TONS of photos of my daughter B. (if you follow me on instagram or facebook, heck, or even this blog, you already know this), but I don't take nearly as many of my best friend, and even fewer of myself.  The day that I took these photos (also my iPhone) he had brought one of his electric guitars outside, but still plugged in (you can see that the door to the house is behind him) and was playing.  It was nice out, B. was playing, and apparently needed an electric guitar as background music.  I so love these moments.  

I decided that I would scraplift myself for this one. I started out with this layout as inspiration, but then it kinda morphed into using this one.  I love the colors in this one!  I like the pop of yellow, and how it brings out the gold guitar.

I used arrows for the Scrapbook Circle "Make your Point" Challenge (Studio Calico Vellum ones -- from the kit -- and also some Amy Tan from my stash).

My favorite alphas right now are pretty much any of the 12x12 abc stickers from Lily Bee Design.  I believe these come from the Picket Fence Collection, but I've purchased about as many of these different sheets as possible, I love them!  I've used them a lot for PL, they are the perfect size.  I used DIY Thickers for "Soul Mate", and misted them with Mister Huey's "taxi" mist and then secured them with a little stitching, just in case).

I think the camera flair is American Crafts I think, and the arrow fair (as well as the one in the top left corner) is from A Flair for Buttons (love Shelley's flair).  The "inspired" sticker is Amy Tangerine (also love).

I must be into foam squares this month.  I decided that one of the photos needed to be lifted for a little dimension.

January Layout Mission: Accomplished!

Peace, love and understanding to ya!
:-) o.g.

project life :: week 2

week 2 spread with insert

Holy inserts, Batman!  This is fun stuff!

week 2 spread (without insert)

Week 2 :: left side

week 2 :: right side

This week I was able to put in some "stuff", which was kinda cool!  We got a new TV, so I put the quick start guide in a pocket. We went to a concert so I punched holes in the program and stuck it, along with the tickets, in the book. Our nephew turned five, which meant this week we needed an insert! (Becky Higgins "G", which is a bit smaller, 12x10).

insert front side

I put lots of photos in the pockets on the front with one journal spot that also held the title and some tickets from Chuck E. Cheese's.  Of course I got some flair from A Flair for Buttons in there along with some alphas and other stickers.

insert back side

On the back side of the insert I also left a place for journaling. There was an injury, so it needed documented.  More flair, more alphas, more stickers.  The picture of the three of us was originally printed out (from one of the games) on a piece of paper.  I went ahead and scanned it in, resized it (it was a little too big) and printed it on photo paper before I stuck it in the book.

what happens to tickets when they go through the wash

Concert tickets went in a pocket (after one had also gone through the wash).  I used the tiny attacher to staple them in (love that little thing)!  I love that B. now says, "Hey Mom, are you going to put that in your book?"  I love it even more that she has "a book", too. What an awesome project.

The basics:  Becky Higgins "A" and "G" style page protectors, Seafoam Digital kit (printed out), the "Yes" flair is ormolu, but the rest is A Flair for Buttons.  The rest of the stuff is from my stash -- just ask in the comments if you want to know about a product and I'll look it up!

Peace, love and understanding to ya!
:-) o.g.

Confused about Project Life?  Check this out from Becky Higgins.  Check out all my PL posts here.

project life 2013 :: week 1

Week One Spread

Holy smokes, Batman! This project life thing is addictive!

Week One :: Left Side

Week One :: Right  (I will probably write a bit on the photo with the hole in the glass, but I haven't decided exactly what to write yet!  It's quite the story.

Here's the lo-down: I'm not yet satisfied with my "product", but the "project" is awesome. What does that mean? It means...

I love the idea of Project Life, or at least my idea of Project Life. I am an everyday scrapbooker. When I am motivated to document something with photos and words, it is almost always something that happens in everyday life, and almost never an "event" (such as a birthday or holiday or reunion, etc.). Project Life, as I see it, is exactly that...documenting the everyday. I especially realized that this might be for me when I did my December Daily 2012. I am loving the memory keeping part of this project.

My product isn't there yet. I think I'm not in the groove, or maybe I just haven't found my style for PL. That is OK. The project is worth doing, and I know that I will figure out the product part as I go.  In fact, I have almost completed week three, and each week the product has gotten better, or at least closer to something I can be happy with. I'm going to try really hard not to go back and fix the stuff that I don't like.  :-)  Also, I am a bit worried that I won't make traditional layouts anymore, mostly due to time constraints, and I'm not sure that this project meets my needs in the creativity department. That is totally what is adding to my dissatisfaction when it comes to the product.  I can't put my finger on what I don't like exactly other than it just looks amateurish, which is probably understandable, since I AM! :-)

A bit about how I am tackling this project: I decided to have my weeks go from Sunday to Saturday. I have no reason for this, I just had to pick a starting day and I didn't like starting on a Tuesday (Jan. 1st) so I chose Sunday. I may need to switch that at some point (maybe not until next year) so that my weekends are together.  Not sure. Did you notice that I'm already talking about next year? That is how much I love this project and it's only been three weeks. It's difficult for me to imagine not doing it...indefinitely. Anyway, so Week 1 started on Sunday December 30.  I am also attempting another 365 (photo a day) project, and sharing on flickr.  However, I am not tackling Project Life in that way.  I don't necessarily include every 365 photo in my book.  And I'm OK with that. I imagine that many of them will be included, which is cool, but not necessary.  Also I am using both my Canon and my iPhone (can't wait to upgrade the iPhone though). I do plan to incorporate quotes each week (sneak: so far they are all related to my One Little Word, but I don't know that it will stay that way). Finally, I'm looking at this as more of a "week in review" and not being super strict about having a photo or story for each day.  So far I think I actually do have a photo/story for each day, but I'm not worried about too much, it's mostly about the stories!

I am using the Becky Higgins Project Life Seafoam Core kit designed by Elise Blaha Cripe.  It wasn't available when I started, and I'm impatient, so I decided to purchase the digital kit and print from that for those first couple of weeks.  I am so glad I did that. I liked being able to start right away and not feel like I was behind from the get go. Plus, I think I may use, modify, and print cards from the digital kit throughout the year.  I like being able to change the cards a little bit before printing. Here is one example of that:

On the original the stripes were all the mustard color. I wanted orange (of course), so I changed it in PhotoShopt to orange using the eyedropper tool to pick the color, and then the paint bucket to color each stripe.  Then I decided that I wanted one stripe aqua, so I repeated the same process with aqua for one of the stripes.  LOVE the result.

I think this will help keep the kit fresh for me.  The kit is awesome. And I love it even more now that I have it in person!  I'm not sure that I will be able to use just the kit all year, though, so I will likely incorporate other papers and things throughout the year. I will probably not link every single product that I use because I want to get the blog updated and that part holds me back (just sayin')! So, if you want to know something specific, just ask in the comments and I will do my best. 

I also purchased some (digital) Project Life Templates and I'm using them to help myself organize each week.  I hope to be able to share that process at some point, but I'm just figuring it out myself, so it will need to wait!

I ordered a bunch of flair from my favorite place: A Flair for Buttons.  Shelley wrote me a nice little note, so I kept it!

This is the note hidden behind one of her cards and little baggies that flair arrived in!

This week's supplies: Seafoam digital kit (printed out). My badges are from A Flair for Buttons, and I've thrown in a bunch of stickers/labels which are mostly from Elle's Studio.  My alphas this week are mostly Amy Tangerine, and the  "January" calendar card is from Paislee Press (I will probably use one of these in the first spread of each month).  The "hello" stamp is from Target.  I stamped it directly on the calendar card, and then again on something else.  I used my 1 inch circle to cut it out of the second piece of cardstock and then use a foam square to make it pop off the page a bit. When I write on photos I use American Crafts Slick Writers. This week I also used these awesome Hero Arts/Studio Calico stamps and all of the ink is StazOn.  Then, of course, my other addiction besides flair, washi tape. The washi I used this week was Freckled Fawn and Recollections (from Michael's).

Week two is also completed, and week three just needs a few finishing touches.  Will share those soon!

Final  note: I totally thought our lives might be too boring for Project Life.  But during this week we had our window shot at (seriously, it was just a pellet gun, but this is another indicator that we need to move), we had visitors, I got tons of happy mail, we celebrated a birthday and visited old friends.  Whew!  Guess we aren't as boring as I thought!

Peace, love and understanding to ya!
:-) o.g.

Confused about Project Life?  Check this out from Becky Higgins.